We have been using our pets to relieve our anxiety. And now the stress is on them

When you come home after an exhausting day, those who have a pet at home, the truth is that they hope to be received by their unconditional affection, since for many it is the best therapy against anxiety. And this is where, for many years, we have thought that our dogs or cats act as a protective shield against external chaos, but the truth is that we are seeing that what is really happening is that absorb our stresssomething that, just like what happens to us, is not good at all.

It is transmitted. Here are several scientific studies published in recent years that have begun to draw a clear picture of what ethologists call “interspecific emotional contagion”, making animals authentic mirrors of our mental state.

One of the most important studies was published in 2019 in Scientific Reports and collected different measures of long-term stress. To do so, the researchers decided to analyze the concentration of cortisolwhich is the main stress hormone, in the hair of 58 dogs and in that of their respective owners for an entire year.

The results. Here it was seen that cortisol levels were synchronized, meaning that when the human had cortisol peaks, because he was quite stressed, the dog also had it. In this way, the authors of the study concluded that it is dogs that “reflect” the stress level of their humans and not the other way around.

Furthermore, recent research suggests that dogs are capable of perceiving subtle physiological changes in us, such as body odors associated with human stress, responding to them with greater anxiety or adopting more pessimistic postures and behaviors. And this is something that shows how they are true mirrors of what happens to us.

The problems of work. If we thought that teleworking or mulling over a work problem only affects us humans, the truth is that we are very wrong. This is what science tells us in different articles that point out that work rumination, which is the habit of mulling over the same topic during our free time, takes a direct toll on our pets, as it is associated with significant increases in stress in dogs.

And this is explained because, although we are physically next to our pets, the fact that we are thinking about a topic that obsesses and worries us causes us to not have a good interaction with our pet so that they feel completely safe. And this logically manifests itself with mental suffering.

How do we know? We sometimes associate animal stress only with when they have to make a visit to the vet or when there is a big bang, like when a firecracker is thrown, but the reality is different. Here animals, when they live in an unstable environment, such as with a lot of noise, conflicts or many hours of solitude, trigger a series of changes that are often misinterpreted by their owners as “bad behavior.”

But here the stress in animals can manifest with constant restlessness, the tendency to hide, excessive attachment, non-stop barking, furniture destructive behavior and much more. That is why, when faced with unusual behavior, we must begin to analyze the situation at home, since it can be contagious, as happens with younger children who also feel the stress at home.

Images | lookstudio on Freepik

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